Everything Stopped
by ajksmusic
Summary: She never thought she'd get that phone call.  Not sad, I promise!  One bad word.


**Disclaimer: Not mine, belong to Andrew Marlowe et. al., blah blah, wish they were mine, just having fun.**

Everything stopped.

She never expected to be on the receiving end of _that_ phone call. To have her heart plummet into her shoes (again), to feel like the earth had just dropped out from under her feet. She never knew that sounds could actually stop, that the world would stop spinning with those few words.

"Detective Beckett ... Kate ... My dad, the loft ... There's been an accident ... Please..."

Everything stopped.

If you asked her later that week, that month, even five minutes after her muscle memory had depressed the buttons to end the call, she would not be able to tell you what had transpired beyond Alexis' call. Her world had crumbled, her heart had stopped, life had essentially ended.

Dropping the phone, grabbing a pair of shoes and not bothering to even put them on her feet (not realizing she didn't have them on until the cold metal of the apartment stairs hit her feet, because who could bother with waiting for the elevator in times like this?), she hailed a cab, thankfully easily (it was 3:17 AM, she would be able to recall that for eternity, February 23, 2012, 3:17 AM), rattled off the address of the loft, and curled herself into the seat, wishing to everything that could hear or understand to just have the cab just hurry the fuck up because she just wanted to be there already.

She must have uttered at least some part of it out loud, or mercifully the cab cut enough corners or broke enough laws, but all at once she was the next block over and she could see the strobes of the ambulance and fire trucks, and she wasn't close enough and time was stopping again. Tossing money at the driver, she yanked open the door, and took everything in herself not to run. Not to run to her second family, her only family, to him.

"Kate!" She spun to her left, seeing through the darkness of the night and the brightness of all the colors, the flash of red that has come to mean home. Alexis barreled towards her, and all thoughts of _'just don't run'_ were thrown out the window and she met her halfway, grabbing onto the girl and just holding tight.

Remembering that she had just thrown herself into a cab at 3:17 AM without any thought, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried not to break.

"What happened?"

As much as it pained her, she only half listened to the redhead, most of her focus on the door that she could see over the girl's shoulder, looking for any sign of Castle, of anything she recognized. She put her arms around Alexis, holding onto her, onto herself, onto anything grounded. Sighing, she focused on what was being said, trying to make sense of everything.

"… couldn't sleep, and something just went wrong, and all I heard was the explosion, and I don't remember getting up, and he was just lying there on the kitchen floor and _oh, Kate!_ It was just … and I called you and I can't find out anything-"

"Alexis. It's ok. Take a deep breath. Did you call Martha?" She watched green eyes blink at her in surprise, and saw the inherent fear start to disappear. She didn't realize how much she was depending on the girl for support, how much this beautiful girl was just that. A girl, who was just trying to learn about her dad, who took the time to call Kate at 3:17 AM, to let her know that her dad, her family, needed her. She watched Alexis choke back a sob, trying to contain herself, and pulled her closer.

Her question disappeared when she looked up. And everything stopped. Like a clichéd beacon, she saw him. Everything stopped, and all she could see was him. Everything they had been through, straight from the book launch to her mothers case, to the summers, arresting him, the kiss, the heartbreak, Royal, Jerry Tyson, everything (they say that your life flashes before your eyes when you're dying; was it possible to have your life flash before your eyes when you almost lose someone else?). Her heart stuttered, almost slowing to a crawl, and it hurt, it _hurt_ to know that she almost lost him and he would never know. Never know how she felt, never know anything (_Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate_), and then she knew. This was it. She blinked and he wasn't alone.

Alexis and Martha had him surrounded, and she could barely see him through the redheads, but she could hear the crying and the reassurances and "the paramedics said I'm alright, I _don't _need to go to the hospital." She choked back a sob, and almost collapsed. Leaning against the tree she hadn't realized was there. She hadn't noticed when Martha got there either, but she's already realized that her world stopped when she saw that Castle, _Rick_, had a bandage around his head and a few stitches near his eyes, She watched the scene unfold before her, watched him reassure them once again that he really was ok, but they'll need to be in a hotel for a few weeks. She watched Alexis turn to her, give her a smile, and get into the car that had appeared for them (she was lost in her own mind for longer than she originally thought, apparently). Then he turned. And collapsed.

This time, she ran.

Past the paramedics who weren't rushing to his side, past the onlookers who had been awoken by the sirens and the lights and the explosion, past the residents who had no homes, albeit temporarily. Life stopped again, and for the sixth (seventh, eighth, hundredth) time that night, her heart stopped beating. Tripping over her own feet (this woman who could run in four-inch heels was being taken down by a sidewalk and flip-flops, or she had six left feet all of a sudden, or none at all, she couldn't really be sure), she stumbled to where he lay.

Collapsing next to him (she really did trip over his foot), she was suddenly all hands and touching (_touching!_) him, wanting, needing, to know that he really was there, and he was really ok, and that her life hadn't ended at 3:17 AM. Gasping for air, she looked up, and there he was. His blue eyes, looking at her, in pain, in exhaustion, but just so grateful (and was that a hint of embarrassment?). He smiled, and she knew. She knew that this was it, that nothing else mattered, that if her life flashed before her eyes when _he_ was injured (not dead, _oh thank god_, not dead or dying), that weren't they the same person? Her life, his life, their life?

She leaned forward, and, choking back some physical emotion (laugh, sob, it was too far past anything to tell) kissed his cheek, heard his inhale, and laughed. She laughed, and she felt so free, because life was finally complete (not to mention she's pretty sure she stunned _Richard Castle_ with just one kiss) and shifted to whisper into his ear.

"I'm pretty sure I know I love you, too."

He smiled.

And everything moved again.


End file.
